pop

Sarah Psalti (former vocalist of Keep Shelly In Athens) joins forces with The Bilinda Butchers on ‘Golden House’. It’s the second single from their forthcoming LP ‘Heaven’ (out July 15 via Orchid Tapes (Vinyl) / Fastcut Records (CD) and follows the lead tune ‘Edo Method‘. The trio dip their toes in 80s new wave this time round, with a dash of M83 inspiration for good measure! ‘Heaven’ is likely to cover a lot of ground stylistically, given it’s a concept record. Definitely one to look out for. Pre-order the limited white vinyl here.

Israeli-born musician Malka Spigel has spent the past thirty years developing her craft with the new wave/art-pop group Minimal Impact, followed by Githead and more recently her solo work. ‘Tall Grey Buildings’ turns the mundane “empty car parks and tall grey buildings” into a warm indie pop tune with surreal, kaleidoscopic visuals. Malka will release the single on her new EP ‘Gliding’ (out May 19 through Swim / iTunes).

Malka Spigel – ‘Tall Grey Buildings’

Visit Malka Spigel online @ Swim.

It comes as little surprise that Pure X‘s latest record ‘Angel’ is another stunner. On their third record they make another change of direction. Albeit less of a switch than it was from the hazy 2011 debut ‘Pleasure’ and last year’s ‘Crawling Up The Stairs’. But the Austin four piece further their lethargy this time round. It’s very chilled, so you’ve got to be in the right mood for it. But with album cuts like ‘Rain’, it’s hard to resist. The album is available now via Fat Possum (but the UK and EU have to wait til May 5).

Pure X – ‘Rain’

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After a week in the wilderness, the new Sounds Better site is finally live… *breaks into the funky chicken*! There’s still work to be done but most of the changes are completed. Here’s a quick rundown on what’s changed…

The problem with running websites is, if you don’t consistently maintain, update and otherwise prune your technical back end, things go southward fast! I’m a little guilty of that, SBWR has had the same functionality and feel for several years now. That’s kinda like the rock n’ roll equivalent of Elliott Smith wearing the same t-shirt in consequent album covers. But just not as cool. So… over the coming weeks there will be some downtime on SBWR for tech fixes. And most likely, a complete site re-build. If you’re confronted with a landing page and can’t get through – apologies and thanks for your patience. Rest assured, I’m sure that three keyboards will be shattered in frustration before the build is done! If there’s anything you’d like added or changed to the site, please shout. Otherwise it’ll turn into such a complicated mess of style over substance that you may shatter a keyboard too! Would love to know your thoughts. Cheers.

Fear Of Men have posted their latest track ‘Outrun Me’, taken from their forthcoming debut LP ‘Loom’ (as premiered @ The Guardian). The Brighton-based trio will deliver the impressive single ‘Luna‘ with this track as the b-side (available on Flexi 5inch through Art Is Hard on April 7). Fear Of Men pack as much “crippling disconnection, boredom and sexual dread” into ‘Outrun Me’ as possible! If only all our shitty feelings could sound this good. Pre-order ‘Loom’ via Kanine Records.